After a shaky start, the Warriors settled in and played well until the final few minutes of the second quarter when they gave up a 17-3 Phoenix run to end the half, which interestingly largely came against lineups with Draymond Green at center.

At that point, the game started to look like a few other games at Oracle against inferior opponents: an overwhelmingly likely win that stayed closer than it needed to be through inconsistent Golden State effort. Instead, this time the Warriors turned it around with a 42-point third quarter that took the wind out of Phoenix’s sails.

Even though they likely would have emerged victorious without that push, delivering that kind of domination helps in a few different ways. Arguably most importantly, it reduced the physical strain on the starters even though Coach Kerr still kept Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson in for a majority of the fourth quarter (more on that later).

Considering the Warriors start a huge stretch of four road games in five nights later this week, fewer than thirty minutes for both Stephen Curry and Green certainly helps. Additionally, it serves as positive reinforcement for a team that should not need any that taking control earlier has its rewards.

While the Warriors did have some nice defensive stretches in the third, their offense did the heavy lifting. The Suns had a reasonable 27 points on 10-for-21 shooting (though their nine turnovers did not help) but were buried by Golden State’s offense. Curry had 20 of the team’s 42 points on just eleven shooting possessions thanks to shooting 3-for-4 from three and 5-for-5 from the line in those twelve minutes.

Overall, the home team made two-thirds of their shots and five of eight threes for an insane 134.3 Offensive Rating. The third had another few hallmarks of strong performances by this group: fourteen fast break points and a remarkable 85.7 percent assist ratio since only two made baskets were unassisted. Those fundamentals provide the foundation for success through a base of clean looks that kept the home crowd engaged.

The upcoming road trip will test whether they can carry that pathway to success in tough buildings against the best competition in the league. If not, the Warriors are still an incredibly good team that likely still finishes first in the West and starts the playoffs as title favorites. If they can, this season takes a very specific turn for as long as they can stay healthy.

***

Other notes:

There were three clips that came out of Saturday’s game that have to be included in any game recap. First is Durant’s block of Eric Bledsoe that led directly to a Curry three:

Second is JaVale McGee trying to inbound the ball for the Suns

Third is Zaza Pachulia’s steal and drive that was doomed as soon as he did not go for a dunk:

All amazing in their own way.

Coach Kerr pulled Stephen Curry before the final defensive possession of the first quarter when he had a foul, then brought him back in for a surprise offensive possession since Bledsoe missed with enough time remaining. That pattern started in the Houston game on Thursday and should continue for a while, especially if Curry continues to put himself in foul trouble too often.

JaVale McGee was the first center off the bench and Patrick McCaw was the first shooting guard in. Both of those should continue for the foreseeable future even if other players at their position have strong games.

David West did well against Alex Len, forcing the slower big man out of his comfort zone while not giving him enough space to get comfortable on offense. While Houston’s backup big men were a terrible matchup for West, Phoenix’s showed where his value lies.

No Warrior who played more than seven minutes had an Offensive Rating below 123.2. For reference, the #2 offense in the NBA (Toronto) has an OffRtg of 113.8.

The JaVale play one more time, because there is no better way to end this:

For more on Warriors/Suns, listen to Danny and Anthony Slater break it down for Locked on Warriors:

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Danny Leroux is a Warriors contributor and salary cap expert for The Athletic. He is the co-host of the popular NBA podcast (Dunc'd On) with Nate Duncan. Follow Danny on Twitter @DannyLeroux. If you liked this story, subscribe today for access to all of our ad-free content. Plans start at just $3.33 per month.